From The Inside Out
by astrotude
Summary: Gilbert is starting his new college life by accepting who he is and openly being transgender. Will others accept who he is as well, or will he be truly alone in this world? /Rated T for the following: Language, crude jokes, transphobia, sexual innuendos, and gender dysphoria.
1. Prologue

"Ugh."

Julia looked at himself in the mirror. He hated the way his hair fell in long, cascading waves of silver. He absolutely hated it. It was the reason everyone knew he was designated female at birth. It obviously wasn't his chest which made him look feminine, as he had bought binders. It was his damned hair. It went up to his hip and he scowled at it.

He grabbed the scissors and held his hair. He slowly pulled the scissors up, and…

It was finally gone. His hair was finally gone. He snipped here and there, fixing the overall look of it. He disposed of the silver hair on the floor by throwing it in the dustbin. He knew it would be disgusting to take out later, but frankly, he didn't care.

He went to his bedroom next door and lay down on the bed. He smiled softly and closer his eyes, letting his thoughts wander. This was the start of something new. It truly was. He already bought all the appropriate clothes, along with enough binders to last him two weeks if he didn't want to do the laundry.

He couldn't wait for his first day of college tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey!<strong>

**This is just a short prologue of what's to come in this new story! I'll update this along with The Best Years of My Life, so don't worry on either one being on hiatus!**

**Have fun!**


	2. Chapter 1

Gilbert woke up with a start, heterochromatic eyes glistening, ready to go to his new college classes. He had already gotten himself situated in his dorm and had met his roommate. She was a kind girl who's name was Erzsébet. Julia-no, he'd decided on Gilbert had already told her that he was transgender, and she had accepted it with a smile. She had said that it didn't affect her in any way, that she was bisexual, and that people who fit into the LGBTQIAPD categories should stick together. Gilbert thought of her as a great friend, one he wouldn't ever want to lose.

He quickly brushed his teeth and hair after washing his face. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror.  
>"Hey, good lookin'. Are you ready?" He spoke softly to himself. "Hell yeah."<p>

His parents had told him that they missed him before he left to college, but he texted them, saying, "I'm going to my first class! Wish me luck!"

He got on his feet, tied his shoelaces, grabbed his backpack, and got out the door.

He would have actually gone all the way to class if he didn't realize that he wasn't wearing a binder.

"Shit! Shit shit," He yelled, getting some weird stares from others. "I… gotta go back holy scheisse!"

He ran back to his dorm room and hurriedly got in.

He was stopped by his roommate, who had a tired look on her face. She was holding one of his binders. "You looking for this?"  
>He gave her a quick thanks before rapidly taking his shirt off, putting the binder on, and wearing his shirt. He promptly runs out the door again, trying not to be late to his first-ever college class. He paced by, almost not noticing the tall blond man with a red sweatshirt who was laughing while walking, holding a coffee cup saying, 'Tim Hortons' in one hand and a cell phone up to his ear in the other. Gilbert, of course, stopped quickly and moved sideways, and ran again, looking back for a bit at the strange (and very cute) man he just passed. He hoped the cutie was in at least one of his classes.<p>

He careened into his class, and sat down in one of the farther rows. The professor walked in, and Gilbert relaxed a little.

"Hello, class. My name is Professor Wang, and you guys know you're in your Biology class. I'm positive you guys are choosing to take this class because you need to so some science. Now, who here is aiming to go into medicine?" Mr. Wang asked.

Gilbert raised his hand, along with four other young people. It was a little weird how not that many students wanted to go into medicine in his class, but he thought that it meant there as less competition. Competition was, in his words, "unawesome", and he really wanted to avoid any more of it.

Mr Wang smiled. "Well, even though only a few of you want to go down that path, only two of you, at the most, will even get into Medical School."

That scared Gilbert. There went his idea of no competition. Oh well. At least he would be spending his life doing something he loved.

Mr. Wang went on, talking about class expectations. After a while, he sighed, realizing the young adults weren't listening to him, and let them talk to each other to get to know their classmates.

Gilbert felt someone tap his shoulder. "Hey, I noticed you wanted to go into medicine? I think it would be good to know someone else, eh? My name is Matthew." It was the same man who Gilbert had passed while running to class.

"H-Hi! I'm Gilbert." He stuck out his hand, which was quickly shaken by the other man. "And yes, I'd love to be a surgeon one day. Cardiothoracic transplants and surgery is what I want to do eventually. It's what my father was, and whenever he came home, he had stories to tell about his transplants."

Matthew nodded. "Oh, that's amazing! I want to be a Psychiatrist, myself. I'd love to help people who are mentally hurt."

After sharing a bit more about themselves and exchanging numbers (much to the delight of the albino man), Mr. Wang told them that their class had ended.

Gilbert left his class, feeling lighter than he felt when he had come in.


	3. Chapter 2

Gilbert walked along, thinking about the handsome Canadian who's number he just got on his phone. Matthew was his first college contact, and it was quite a large step for Gilbert. He decided to go to the coffee shop, as he had a few hours to waste before his next class. He only had two classes on Wednesdays, anyway. He walked a few blocks towards it and opened the door. It made a nice jingling sound when it opened in order to alert the cashier that there was a person at the door. Gilbert chuckled when he heard the tinkling noise, as it reminded him of the old shops that used to be everywhere before they were replaced by newer, industrial-looking shops. He walked up to the counter, looking at the sign above it that had the names of the coffees that were available. Gilbert mentally chose a drink and greeted the man at the counter.

"Hiya! What would you like to order?" asked the man behind the counter, who was a tall man with messy blond hair and blue eyes.

"A medium caramel frappucino, please!" Gilbert held out his money as he spoke.

The other man took the money and told Gilbert that it would be a while before his drink was ready, as there were "too many customers today, isn't it great?". Gilbert nodded before walking over to the tables. There was only one seat available, next to a blond man who looked a little bored and was staring at the man at the counter.

"May I sit here?" Gilbert asked the man.

He looked up at Gilbert before nodding slightly. "Of course."

Gilbert sat down quickly, trying not to annoy the man sitting in front of him. However, he couldn't help but strike up a conversation.

"My name is Gilbert, I'm a freshman here!" He held out his hand.

The man, who was previously staring at the cashier, turned to look at Gilbert. His expression stayed the same, but he shook the other man's hand.

"I'm Lukas. I'm a med student." He obviously wasn't much of a conversationist, but Gilbert persisted.

"Hey, that's cool! I plan to become a doctor too!" Gilbert smiled, and was surprised to receive a smile as well.

"It's really hard, but it's worth it in the end. The entire field of medicine is so interesting, I'm so happy I'm able to learn. You have to work really hard, though. Don't get your head wrapped around little things like gossip. Drama isn't going to help you at all, trust me. It might be fun now, but when it restricts you from doing what you really wish, the consequences are terrible." Lukas went on. "Now, you see that man behind the counter? He's a law student. Try to see if you can get his number for me?"

Gilbert widened his eyes a bit, but smiled. "Of course." He got up, and walked over to the counter.

To Lukas, there was a short silent conversation filled with laughs and pointing over to himself. He looked away after a while, and Gilbert came back with a small piece of paper. The German handed the other man the paper, which read "(123)4567890 call me xoxo"

Lukas' eyes shined as he said, "Thank you, Gilbert."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt!" The man, who Gilbert had learned was named Mathias, yelled.

Gilbert shuffled over to the counter and got his drink, as well as Lukas'. He walked back to the table and handed Lukas his black coffee. After a quick thanks, Lukas brought out a laptop from the satchel lying near his feet and started typing. Gilbert, sipping his drink, opened a novel he was supposed to read and started to let himself relax. His digital watch beeped and he sighed.

"Hey, Lukas? I gotta go, alright? I have to go to my next class. Do you mind if I ask for your number?" Gilbert was hurrying his words and it was quite hard for Lukas to understand.

"I come here every day at this time," Lukas said calmly. "I'll give you my number tomorrow, alright? Go to your class."

Gilbert smiled before waving his hand and running out the door.


End file.
